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A Trip Down Eveready Memory Lane

Date : 03 October 2017

As Eveready celebrates their 80-year anniversary, we thought it would be fitting to look back on some of the company’s stand-out moments over the past eight decades. Follow us as we take you on a journey throughout our history as an iconic South African brand.

The Eveready story began 80 years ago in June 1937 at a manufacturing site in Harrower Road, Port Elizabeth. At the time, some 60 years before becoming an independent South African company, Eveready traded paper jacket batteries in various sizes as a subsidiary of the National Carbon Company – a division of United States-based corporation, Union Carbide.

The decades that followed would be characterised by no less than four changes in ownership – from the National Carbon Company to The Eveready Company Limited in Great Britain in 1945, Hanson PLC in 1982, and Duracell Inc. in 1996 which was acquired by Gillette later that same year. It was in February 2003 when a consortium of companies took charge of Eveready (Pty) Ltd, injecting new life and vision into the company and turning it into the Proudly South African company it is today.

The Eveready brand and product mix also experienced significant changes throughout the years as the company adapted to consumers’ needs of the day.

In the 1950’s, Eveready launched its first Layer Cell battery, the Super No. 1, to help power the radios of the time. Within the next decade, Eveready launched its noteworthy "Red, White and Blue” battery range, where each colour was indicative of the device it was designed to support – Eveready Red for radios, Eveready White for torches and Eveready Blue for motorized equipment, gadgets and toys.

In 1971, building began on the existing factory in Eveready Road, North End and the five-week move to the new premises took place the following year. The 1970’s also saw the introduction of Eveready Power Plus – a powerful, all-purpose battery designed to keep up with increasing power demands.

It was the introduction of Eveready’s Power Plus Gold and first Alkaline battery in the 1990’s however that truly gave Eveready a formidable share of South Africa’s battery market. Although the alkaline battery had to be discontinued soon thereafter, August 2003 saw the return of the new and improved Alkaline Plus product under the current ownership.

Since becoming an independent company, Eveready’s growth as a market leader and commitment to producing quality batteries has continued. Their innovativeness has also stood the test of time and is highlighted by the expansion of the brand into:

Lighting from 2004;

Renewable energy from 2006, with the acquisition of Kestrel Renewable Energy;

Household wooden products in 2009, with the acquisition of House of York; and

International markets from 2004, with the establishment of Eveready export brand, ecocell.

As we look back on a lifetime of memories made on South African soil, you may be wondering what’s in store for the Eveready over the next 80 years. While the possibilities are endless, there is one thing we’re sure of: our focus will always remain where our passion lies - with our people, products, and country.